The Palestine Chronology

The IDF raids Yatta, detains several candidates in the 1/25 elections after they conclude a rally; bars Fatah candidates fr. crossing a checkpoint nr. Qalqilya to attend a campaign rally in Azun Itma village; raids a Fatah campaign rally in East Jerusalem, detaining Fatah candidate Uthman Abu Gharbiyya; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Dura (occupying 3 Palestinian homes as observation posts), Jenin and in Bethlehem, Hebron, Yatta. IDF troops stationed on the central Gaza border detain 7 Palestinian teenagers (ages 13–15) fr. Nussayrat r.c. attempting to sneak into Israel to find work. Some 3,000 Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters led by several Palestinian candidates to the 1/25 elections take part in the weekly nonviolent march against the separation wall in Bil‘in; the IDF fires tear gas to disperse the crowd. A Jewish settler moderately injures a Palestinian in a hit-and-run nr. Nablus. (IMEMC 1/20; Gush Shalom press release, JAZ 1/21; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23; PCHR 1/26)

The IDF reopens Gaza’s Erez crossing (closed on 12/16); fatally shoots an armed Palestinian in Nablus who reportedly was guarding his home after recent clashes with other Palestinians, also killing 1 Palestinian inside the home and wounding 5; detains 3 of Hamas’s Change and Reform candidates in East Jerusalem; bars several candidates running in the Hebron district fr. entering al-Ramadin village to campaign; raids offices in East Jerusalem allegedly linked to Change and Reform campaigning; sends troops into Kafr Dan west of Jenin, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 3; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Alar, Jalazun r.c., Qalqilya, al-Til.Israeli police break up a Change and Reform campaign rally in East Jerusalem, detaining 3 candidates, 3 other Palestinians. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino set fire to 6 Palestinian shops in the Hebron cloth market. (IMEMC, JP, PCHR 1/15; NYT, WP, WT 1/16; PCHR 1/19; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)

The IDF closes the Qarni crossing, citing intelligence that Palestinians are digging a tunnel nearby; raids Dahariyya nr. Hebron, occupies positions and patrols nr. a campaign rally for candidates in the 1/25 elections; arrests 3 campaign workers for independent candidate Fadwa Khadir, releases them later but confiscates their campaign materials; conducts arrest raids and house searches nr. Hebron (occupying a home as an observation post), in Jenin r.c. and town (arresting senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Muhammad Tawalba). In Hebron, the IDF prepares to remove 15 settler families fr. 11 Palestinian stores they have occupied in the old market area since 2/94 by the DMin.’s 1/15 deadline; some 200 Jewish settlers riot in Hebron to protest, clashing with soldiers attempting to prevent them fr. vandalizing and occupying more Palestinian shops in the market (leaving 1 IDF soldier injured), torching a Palestinian home; DM Mofaz extends the deadline for the evacuation to 1/31. Separately, 100s of Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino rampage through Palestinian areas of Hebron, vandalizing buildings, slashing car tires. Jewish settlers fence off 150 d. of Palestinian land nr. Dura to expand the unauthorized settlement outpost of Mitzpe Lakhish nr. Nahal Negohot settlement. More than 100 armed Palestinians, including off-duty policemen, block Gaza’s 2 main north–south roads for several hrs., demanding retribution for the 1/11 death of a police officer fr. injuries received during a 1/7 drug raid, the resignation of Interior M Nasr Yusuf. (HA, IMEMC 1/14; NYT, WT 1/15; PCHR 1/19; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23; NYT 1/29)

The IDF tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement around Tulkarm; bars Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa candidates in the 1/25 elections fr. crossing a checkpoint outside of Tubas; tears down campaign posters for Fatah candidate and AMB mbr. Muhammad Khadir in Kafr Sur nr. Tulkarm, as well as other campaign posters on the road leading fr. Hebron to Dura; sends troops into Jenin town and r.c., fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them, seriously wounding a 12-yr.-old boy; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Azza r.c. nr. Bethlehem, nr. Nablus and Ramallah, in and around Hebron (occupying several homes as observation posts). Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. n. Gaza towards Israel, 3 of which land inside Palestinian territory, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with artillery fire, causing no injuries. PA police exchange gunfire with wanted Palestinians during an arrest raid in Dayr al-Balah, leaving 10 Palestinians wounded (including 8 policemen); 11 policemen are wounded in clashes with suspected drug smugglers during an arrest raid in Khan Yunis; 1 Palestinian is killed in a clash btwn. PA police and gunmen in Gaza City. The AMB–Jenin faction warns foreign election observers to leave the city immediately. (IMEMC 1/7; NYT 1/8; YA 1/9; PCHR 1/19; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)

Sharon suffers a massive stroke. Sharon, who was expected to win a 3d term in the 3/06 elections at the head of his new Kadima party, is not expected to return to politics, throwing the elections into question. Political powers are transferred to Vice PM Ehud Olmert, Sharon’s close ally. (BBC, JTA 1/4; CSM, NYT, WP, WT 1/5; DS 1/6; CSM 1/9)

The IDF seals the West Bank, Gaza for the 4-day Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha; conducts predawn mock air raids over Gaza, breaking the sound barrier; raids a house in East Jerusalem, breaks up a mtg. being held by Change and Reform candidate Ahmad Attoun; bulldozes a Palestinian home nr. Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 9), in and around Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarm. In continued retaliation for the 1/2 killings (see 1/3), Islamic Jihad, the AMB fire 8 rockets fr. Gaza towards Ashkelon, Sederot, and the IDF base at the Erez crossing, causing no damage or injuries. IDF soldiers, Israeli police scuffle with Jewish settlers when serving them with notices that they must evacuate by 1/15 Palestinian-owned buildings they have occupied in the Hebron central market; 4 policemen are injured. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize Palestinian homes in Hebron, bar Palestinians fr. using a road linking the settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs; the IDF observes but does not intervene. About 40 armed AMB mbrs. occupy 4 PA government buildings in Gaza, fire on a police station to protest the 1/3 arrest of AMB leader Hams; other AMB mbrs. set burning barricades on the road to the Rafah crossing (barring all but medical cases fr. reaching the border), detonate an explosive device under the Rafah border wall (causing only minor damage). AMB mbrs. later steal 2 bulldozers, tear down a 15-ft stretch of the concrete Gaza border wall; as many as 1,000 Palestinians, some armed, overrun the Egyptian border guards, who fire in the air, call in reinforcements, declare the area a closed military zone, arrest around 100 Palestinians and injure 3; during the skirmish, some Palestinians set fire to an Egyptian armored vehicle, throw hand grenades and fire at the Egyptian contingent, leaving 2 Egyptian border guards dead and around 30 injured; Egypt closes the Rafah border until further notice. The PA says it will release Hams on 1/5 in response to the protests. PA police in Gaza City, fatally shoot a Hamas mbr. hanging campaign posters. Meanwhile, 5 armed Palestinians raid a Gaza house, attempt to kidnap the parents of Rachel Corrie, an American college student who was killed by the IDF in Gaza in 2003; the gunmen back off when the owners of the home explain who the Corries are. (IMEMC, JAZ, YA 1/4; AP, HA, IMEMC, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 1/5; HA, NYT 1/9; al-Ahram Weekly 1/10; PCHR 1/19; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)

As the campaign period for the 1/25 Palestinian elections opens, Israeli police in East Jerusalem arrest Independent Palestine candidate Mustafa Barghouthi as he campaigns, releases him after 4 hrs.; detain 7 Fatah candidates campaigning in the city; disperse a Third Way rally led by Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. Hanan Ashrawi (Jerusalem); in 2 separate incidents, bars Central Election Commission (CEC) staff mbrs. fr. crossing a Tulkarm checkpoint to attend an election-related mtg. in nearby Dayr al-Ghusun and the Jordan Valley; blocks the transportation of election campaigning material fr. the West Bank to Gaza; sends troops into Jenin town and r.c. Meanwhile, the IDF opens the new Kerem Shalom commercial crossing on the Egypt-Gaza-Israel border; fatally shoots wanted Palestinian Mustafa Muhammad during an arrest raid nr. Hebron; raids a Palestinian school in Anata n. of Jerusalem, firing rubber bullets, injuring 1 teacher, 1 student and then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 8; bulldozes a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanina; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Jalazun r.c., Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, Qalqilya; dismantles 3 unauthorized settlement outposts nr. Bat Ayin, Efrat, Pdu’el. In response to the 1/2 assassination, Islamic Jihad fires at least 12 rockets at the Negev, the ARB fires a rocket at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with artillery fire on 8 roads leading to the n. Gaza no-go zone, causing no injuries. The AMB, ARB claim joint responsibility for detonating an explosive device nr. an IDF bulldozer operating on Jenin r.c., seriously injuring 1 IDF soldier. PA police arrest Gaza AMB leader Ala’ al-Hams for plotting the kidnapping of 3 Britons on 12/28. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino break into, rob, vandalize several Palestinian shops in Hebron. (AFP, AP, BBC, HA, IMEMC, JAZ 1/3; IMEMC, PMC, WP, WT, YA 1/4; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 1/5; HA 1/6; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)